Kidnapped Spanish journalist released in Syria

Spanish journalist Marc Marginedas, who was kidnapped in Syria on Sept. 4, has been released and is in good health in Turkey, from where on Sunday he spoke by telephone with his family and with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

Marginedas was released early Sunday after spending almost six months in Syria in the hands of jihadists belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, El Periodico de Catalunya, the paper for which the reporter works, said.

Marginedas crossed the border between Syria and Turkey on Sunday morning after being freed by the Al Qaeda-linked Islamic group.

He is presently in Turkey with Spanish officials and is undergoing various medical examinations to determine the state of his health after his long captivity.

Marginedas conversed by telephone with his family in Barcelona, with Rajoy and with Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, all of whom he told that he was feeling fine.

Rajoy expressed his satisfaction with Marginedas' release to reporters and confirmed that he spoke with him and that he is "reasonably well."

"There are still people there" who remain kidnapped, Rajoy said, referring to Spanish journalist Javier Espinosa and photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova, who are still being held by their abductors in Syria.

Marginedas was kidnapped near the city of Hama on Sept. 4, although during his captivity he was moved by his captors to different locations.

The employees of El Periodico de Catalunya have remained mobilized for the past six months to demand Marginedas' release, holding weekly gatherings at the newspaper's front entrance. EFE